Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are attractive candidates for the replacement of conventional light sources based on incandescent and fluorescent lights. LEDs have significantly higher power efficiencies than incandescent lights and have much greater lifetimes. In addition, LEDs do not require the high voltage systems associated with fluorescent lights and can provide light sources that more nearly approximate “point sources” than fluorescent fixtures. The latter feature is particularly important for light sources that utilize collimating or other imaging optics.
LEDs emit light in a relatively narrow spectral band. Hence, to provide a light source of an arbitrary perceived color, the light from a number of LEDs must be combined in a single light fixture or some form of phosphor conversion layer must be used to convert the narrow band of light to light having the desired color. While this complicates the construction of some LED light sources, it also provides the basis for light sources having a color that can be varied by altering the ratios of the light emitted by the various colored LEDs or an intensity by varying the power to all of the LEDs. In contrast, conventional light sources based on fluorescent tubes emit light of a fixed color and intensity.
To replace conventional light sources, several LEDs are typically needed. Typically, LEDs have power dissipations that are less than a few watts. Hence, to provide a high intensity light source to replace conventional light fixtures, a relatively large number of LEDs must be used in each light source.
In addition, LEDs age with use. Typically, the light output decreases with use and, in some cases, the spectrum emitted by the LED shifts with age giving rise to color shifts. In general, LEDs that emit different colors of light have different aging characteristics, since the aging profile of an LED depends on the fabrication process and materials, as well as other factors. In a light source based on three different color LEDs, the shift in intensity and/or spectrum causes the light emitted by the source to shift in color. To correct for these problems in a packaged LED source based on multiple LED dies, access must be provided to each die or group of dies that emit the same color of light so that the current through each die or group of dies can be adjusted separately over the life of the light source.
Heat dissipation is also a significant problem in the design of high-powered LED light sources. The efficiency with which an LED converts electrical power to light decreases with the temperature of the p-n junction in the LED. The shift in efficiency can lead to color shifts in a multi-LED light source based on LEDs of different colors. Also, the lifetime of the LED also decreases if the LED is operated at a high temperature. Hence, some mechanism for efficiently removing heat from the dies must be incorporated in the LED package. In general, the package includes some thermal path that thermally connects the LED dies to a larger heat-radiating surface such as the core of a printed circuit board on which the packaged light source is mounted. Providing such a thermal path in multi-chip LED packages presents problems, since each LED is normally mounted on a separate heat conducting pad that is connected to the printed circuit board core by a path that has a relatively high thermal resistance. To reduce the thermal resistance, the size of each of the thermal conductors must be increased, which, in turn, increases the size of the packaged light source.